Director launches LSE seminar series in Madrid

LSE Director Howard Davies visits Madrid this week to launch the International Centre for Economics and the Social Sciences (ICESS).

The ICESS Centre is being established with long-term Enterprise LSE collaborators, the savings bank Caja Madrid, with their project partners the insurance company MAPFRE and the local government of Majadahonda, where the new centre will be based.

The launch follows successful LSE Masterclasses in Madrid, Spain, which have seen over 25 LSE faculty teach 600 of Spain's brightest young professionals and junior academics in Madrid since the first programme in 2000.

Enterprise LSE (ELSE), who have managed the LSE Masterclasses since their inception, are also independent members of the Board of Trustees of ICESS through ELSE board members Professor Andres Rodriguez-Pose, chairman Roger Mountford and Howard Davies.

The launch, including a lecture and reception at the Casino de Madrid, will be attended by over 100 academic, business and political participants.

ICESS activities begin this week too, with a series of six high level seminars aimed at the business, political and diplomatic communities. The first focuses on 'China in the Global Economy' with Howard Davies, Dr Razeen Sally, Dr Linda Yueh, Emeritus Professor Michael Yahuda, SOAS Professor Laixiang Sun, and former British ambassador to China Sir Alan Donald, along with six Spanish academic experts on China. Future seminars will include sessions on geo-political risk, corporate social responsibility, global financial architecture, global insurance markets and the future of Europe.

Adam Austerfield, director of projects at Enterprise LSE and manager of Spanish programmes, said: 'This is a very exciting step for us after many years of working in Spain and collaborating with Caja Madrid in particular. The Centre gives us a long-term base to engage with the regional, national and international Hispanic communities, especially as Madrid continues to develop as a major hub for Latin American academic and commercial activity.'

While in Madrid, Howard Davies also re-launched the LSE Alumni Club in Spain after the sad death of its former head, Carlos de la Serna, in 2005.

Use of this website is subject to, and implies acceptance of, its Terms of use (including Copyright and intellectual property, Privacy and data protection and Accessibility). The London School of Economics and Political Science is a School of the University of London. It is a charity and is incorporated in England as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Acts (Reg no. 70527).The registered office address of the School is: The London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK; Tel: +44 (0)20 7405 7686